Are You an Ezer?

Everything God created was good. But He looked at Adam and said, “It is not good for the man to be alone.” Something was missing. So God said: “I will make a helper suitable for him” (Genesis 2:18).

God created woman from the very stuff of man—his same substance: “So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs …Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man…” (Genesis 2:20-24).

Marriage was God’s gift to humans. Eve was Adams’s companion, but the Bible also calls her his helper. In Hebrew, “helper,”or ezer means “to support.” It’s a combination of two roots: “to rescue, to save,” and “to be strong.” Ezer is a powerful word. In fact, in the Bible, it most often refers to Almighty God as our helper, usually in times of danger or battle.

When you grasp what it means to be an ezer, you begin to get an image of woman as a rock, not a doormat. Your challenge is to become strong so that you are a source of strength for a husband who will sometimes be weak.

I’ve learned that an important part of showing honor to a strong husband like David is to be his “rock of support” when everything around him feels like it’s crashing down.

Think about what it means to be strong like a “rock” for our husbands, families, and communities. Lord knows we need more women who are willing to live strong as ezers in this hurting and broken world.